Avery holds off Zhang for individual title, leads Southern Cal to team crown in Stanford Regional

    It is a rivalry that will likely be played out for years to come.

   The California Kids, Ameri Avery, the freshman at Southern California from Riverside and No. 21 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Rose Zhang, the freshman at Stanford from Irvine and No. 1 in the Women’s WAGR, battled it out for the individual title in the NCAA’s Stanford Regional, which wrapped up Wednesday, while their teams were locked a tight battle for the team crown.

   They were battles won by Avery and the Trojans as Avery carded her third round in the 60s over the 6,267-yard, par-71 Stanford Golf Course, a 3-under 68, to hold off a hard-charging Zhang for the individual title while the Trojans claimed the program’s NCAA record 14^th regional title, beating their Pac-12 rivals by eight shots.

   Avery was one of the subjects of “The Short Game,” the 2013 documentary produced by Hollywood power couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel that featured youngsters playing in the 2012 U.S. Kids Golf World Championship at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

   Zhang dominated junior golf for years before finally arriving on the college scene. I visited a post I did on the Girls Junior PGA Championship in 2017 when the then 14-year-old Zhang went 20-under par to win by six shots at the Country Club of St. Albans in St. Albans, Mo.

   Zhang was just 17 when she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in the pandemic summer of 2020 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. Beat a Southern Cal girl, too, Aussie Gabi Ruffels, in 38 riveting holes.

   A little tip if you’re a golf fan in the Philadelphia area. Zhang and Avery will be teammates for the United States of America when the 42^nd Curtis Cup Match tees off beginning June 10 at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course. So, you get a sneak peek at the future of women’s golf and a chance to wander around at one of America’s truly great golf courses, all for the low, low price of, well actually it’s free.

   Avery’s final-round 68 at the Stanford Golf Course gave her a 9-under 204 total. Zhang, playing on her home course, ripped of a sizzling 5-under 66 in the final round to finish a shot behind Avery in second place in the individual chase with an 8-under 205 total.

   Avery helped Southern Cal, No. 12 in the latest Golfstat rankings and seeded second in the Stanford Regional, post a final round of 3-under 281 for a 54-hole total of 15-under 837.

   Stanford, ranked No. 1 since the very beginning of the wraparound 2021-2022 season and the top seed on its home course, closed with a 1-over 285 to share second place with Southeastern Conference champion LSU, ranked 14^th and seeded third, each landing on 7-under 845.

   The Bayou Tigers finished up with a 2-under 282 to join Stanford at 7-under. Not sure there was a stronger top three finishers in any of the six regionals that completed play Wednesday.

   Two of the Big Ten’s perennial powers, No. 48 and eighth-seeded Purdue and No. 37 and seventh-seeded Northwestern, hooked up in a playoff for the final berth to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. after both landed on 12-over 864.

   With the five players from both teams playing the Stanford Golf Course’s 10^th hole, Purdue went 1-over and Northwestern went 3-over and the Boilermakers were moving on.

   Backing up Avery for Southern Cal was Brianna Navarrosa, a sophomore from San Diego, who finished a shot behind Zhang in third place in the individual chase with a 7-under 206 total. Navarrosa recorded her second straight 3-under 68 after opening the week with a 1-under 70.

   Michaela Morard, a sophomore from Huntsville, Ala., gave the Trojans a third round in the 60s in Wednesday’s final round as she closed with a 2-under 69 to finish alone in sixth place with a 3-under 210 total.

   Rounding out the Southern California lineup was a pair of players, Cindy Kou, a freshman from China, and Katherine Muzi, a senior from Newport Beach, Calif., who finished among the group tied for 30^th place at 7-over 220. Kou finished up with a 5-over 76 while Muzi closed with a 6-over 77.

   A couple of LSU standouts, Carla Tejedo, a sophomore from Spain, and Ingrid Lindblad, a junior from Sweden and No. 2 in the Women’s WAGR, finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively in the individual chase.

   Tejedo closed with a 1-under 70 to finish alone in fourth place, two shots behind Southern Cal’s Navarrosa at 5-under 208.

   It’s been quite a spring for Lindblad as she shared second place with her LSU teammate Latanna Stone in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship and followed that up by claiming the SEC’s individual title at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. while leading the Bayou Tigers to the team crown.

   Lindblad finished up with a 2-under 69 to end up in fifth place, a shot behind Tejedo, with a 4-under 209.

   In the Albuquerque Regional, the team that won the Pac-12 title a couple of weeks ago on its home course at Eugene Country Club, No. 2 Oregon, played like a top seed as the Ducks captured the team title, beating Big 12 champion Texas, ranked 13th and seeded third, by three shots.

   It was the first regional team crown in the program’s history and Oregon was led by its first individual regional champion in program history, Briana Chacon, a junior from Whittier, Calif. and No. 98 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Chacon had established a four-shot lead after adding a 3-under 69 over the 6, 272-yard, par-72 University of New Mexico Championship Course layout in the second round to her sizzling opening round of 7-under 65.

   She closed with a 1-over 73 for a 9-under 207 total that still left her four shots clear of runnerup Jenny Bae, a senior at Georgia from Suwanee, Ga. and No. 90 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Oregon was similarly cautious in the team chase, closing with a 4-over 292 for a 4-under 860 total.

   Texas finished with a solid 2-under 286 to earn runnerup honors with a 1-under 863 total that left the Longhorns three shots behind Oregon.

   Georgia, ranked 18^th and seeded fifth, capped a solid week as the SEC power closed with a 2-over 290 for a 2-over 866 total that left the Bulldogs three shots behind Texas in third place.

   Big 12 upstart TCU, ranked 33^rd and seeded sixth, closed with its second straight 3-over 291 for a 10-over 874 total that edged SEC power Florida, ranked 11^th and seeded second, by a shot for the final ticket to Grayhawk out of the Albuquerque Regional.

   Backing up Chacon for Oregon was Pac-12 individual champion Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu, a sophomore from Taiwan and No. 26 in the Women’s WAGR who struggled in the final round with a 4-over 76, but finished in the group tied for eighth place with a 1-over 217 total.

   Sofie Kibsgaard-Nielsen, a junior from Denmark, closed with her third straight 1-over 73 to finish alone in 16^th place with a 3-over 219 total.

   Rounding out the Oregon lineup were the other two members of the Ducks’ Taiwan connection as junior Chang-Tzu Chen finished in the group tied for 22^nd place at 5-over 221 and senior Tze-Han (Heather) Lin landed among the group tied for 25^th place at 6-over 222. Chen closed with a 2-over 74 while Lin had the Ducks’ best round in the final round, matching par with a 72.

   Georgia’s Bae closed with a 2-over 74 to earn runnerup honors with a 5-under 211 total, four shots behind Chacon.

   Bae’s Georgia teammate, Candice Mahe, a junior from France, closed with a 2-under 70 to head a group of three players tied for third place at 3-under 213.

   Joining Mahe in the trio at 3-under were TCU’s leading lady, Sabrina Iqbal, a senior from San Jose, Calif., and Florida’s Marina Escobar, a junior from Spain.

   Iqbal matched par in the final round with a 72 while Escobar closed with a 1-over 73 to nab one of the individual berths to Grayhawk, a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing day for the Gators.

   In the Ann Arbor Regional, yet another strong West Coast entry, Mountain West champion San Jose State, No. 5 in the latest Golfstat rankings and the top seed, rallied past Virginia, ranked eighth and seeded second, to claim the team crown behind individual champion Natasha Andrea Oon, a senior from Malaysia and No. 10 in the Women’s WAGR.

   The Spartans trailed Virginia, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, by three shots entering the final round, but they matched par in the final round over the 6,265 U-M Golf Course with a 284 to finish with a 10-over 862 total to claim their first regional team title since 1995.

   Oon closed with a 3-under 68 to pull away for a five-shot victory in the individual chase with a 6-under 207 total.

   Virginia closed with a 6-over 290 to finish three shots behind San Jose State in second place with a 13-over 865 total. The Cavaliers achieved their most important goal, punching their ticket to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.

   It was 15 shots back to host and Big Ten champion Michigan, ranked 18^th and seeded third, and SEC power Arkansas, ranked 20^th and seeded fourth, as the two teams finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 28-over 880 to claim the last two berths out of the Ann Arbor Regional to Grayhawk.

   The Wolverines closed with a solid 3-over 287 on their home course to earn their second straight trip to nationals while the Razorbacks finished up with a 10-over 298.

   Backing up Oon for San Jose State was Lucia Lopez Ortega, a freshman from Spain who finished in a tie for third place with an even-par 216 total. Lopez Ortega closed with a 1-under 70 after opening with a 1-over 72 and matching par in the second round with a 71.

   Antonia Malate, a senior from Seaside, Calif., matched par in the final round with a 71 to finish in a tie for 13th place for the Spartans with a 5-over 218 total.

   Kajsa Arwefjall, a junior from Sweden and No. 61 in the Women’s WAGR, finished up with a 4-over 75 to end up among the group tied for 26^th place with a 224 total.

   Rounding out the San Jose State lineup was Louisa Carlbom, a sophomore from Sweden who posted her second straight 5-over 76 in the final round to join the group tied for 43^rd place with a 230 total.

   Virginia Tech’s Emily Mahar, a graduate student from Australia and No. 55 in the Women’s WAGR, closed with a 2-under 69 to claim runnerup honors with a 1-under 212 total, five shots behind Oon. The strong finish also earned Mahar a spot in the NCAA Championship’s individual competition at Grayhawk.

   Old Dominion’s Jana Melichova, a senior from the Czech Republic, grabbed the other individual berth to Grayhawk as she finished up with a 1-under 70 to join San Jose State’s Lopez Ortega in a tie for third place at even-par 213.

   Virginia sophomore Jennifer Cleary, a product of Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Del., had surged into second place in the individual standings on the strength of a sparkling 4-under 67 in the second round. Cleary closed with a 4-over 75 to finish in the group tied for fifth place with a 2-over 215 total.

   Cleary and her Virginia teammates still have some golf to play as they are headed to Grayhawk for the NCAA Championship.

   In the Franklin Regional, host Vanderbilt, ranked 35^th and seeded sixth, ripped off the best team round of the week, a 9-under 279, to beat SEC rival Alabama, ranked ninth and seeded second, by eight shots to capture the team title with a 16-under 848 total.

   Alabama, which had trailed the Commodores by five shots heading into Wednesday’s final round, closed with a solid 6-under 282 to earn runnerup honors with an 8-under 856 total.

   The Crimson Tide were led by individual champion Polly Mack, a fifth-year player from Germany and No. 48 in the Women’s WAGR who closed with a sizzling 6-under 66 for a 12-under 204 total that was four shots clear of the field.

   Mack had opened with the best individual round of the week, a 7-under 65, but had fallen three shots off the pace before coming on strong again in the final round.

   ACC champion Wake Forest, ranked fourth and the top seed in the Franklin Regional, matched Alabama’s final round of 6-under 282 to finish in third place with a 3-under 861 total that left the Demon Deacons five shots behind Alabama.

   Another SEC entry, Texas A&M, ranked 15^th and seeded third, grabbed the final ticket to Grayhawk as the Aggies finished up with a 5-under 283 to end up six shots behind Wake Forest in fourth place with a 3-over 867 total.

    Leading the way for Vanderbilt was Auston Kim, the Commodores’ veteran senior from St. Augustine, Fla. who closed with a 4-under 68 to land among a trio of players tied for fourth place with a 5-under 211 total.

   Two other Vanderbilt players, Jayna Choi, a junior from Collierville, Texas, and Tess Davenport, a junior from Buford, Ga., joined Kim in the top 10 in the individual standings.

   Davenport finished up with a 1-over 73 as she ended up in a tie for ninth place at 3-under 213.

   Celina Sattelkau, a junior from Germany and No. 67 in the Women’s WAGR, matched par in the final round with a 72 as she finished among the group tied for 15^th place with an even-par 216 total. Rounding out the Vanderbilt lineup was Louise Yu, a fifth-year player from Duluth, Ga. who closed with her best round of the week, a 3-under 69, to finish in the group tied for 21^st place with a 3-over 219 total.

   Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn, a junior from Asheville, N.C. and No. 9 in the Women’s WAGR, and Texas A&M’s Jennie Park, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, shared runnerup honors in the individual standings as each finished four shots behind Mack with an 8-under 208 total.

   Kuehn, who will join Zhang and Avery on the U.S. Curtis Cup team next month at Merion, added a 4-under 68 in the final round to the pair of 70s she recorded in the first two rounds. Park had surged into the lead on the strength of a 6-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round before cooling off with a 1-over 73 in the final round.

   Joining Vanderbilt’s Kim in the trio tied for fourth place at 5-under were Texas San Antonio’s Camryn Carreon, a junior home girl from San Antonio, and Alabama’s Benedetta Moresco, a sophomore from Italy and No. 19 in the Women’s WAGR.

   USTA’s Carreon finished with a flourish as her 5-under 67 earned her one of the individual berths out of the Franklin Regional to the NCAA Championship. Moresco finished up with a 2-under 70 to back up Mack and help the Crimson Tide earn runnerup honors in the team competition.

   Duke came up one frustrating shot behind Texas A&M and failed to advance to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2011.

   Sophomore Phoebe Brinker, the ACC’s individual champion who starred scholastically at Archmere Academy, matched par in the final round to join the group tied for 21^st place with a 3-over 219 total.

   Rylie Heflin, the Avondale, Chester County native who was a scholastic standout at Tower Hill, capped a solid freshman season with the Blue Devils as she carded a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 30^th place with a 5-over 221 total.

   In the Tallahassee Regional, it was another impressive performance by a host team playing on its home course as ACC representative Florida State, ranked 16^th and seeded third, rolled to a 17-shot victory to earn its second straight regional team title.

   Behind individual champion Beatrice Wallin, a senior from Sweden and No. 7 in the Women’s WAGR, Florida State finished up with an 8-under 280 over the 6,292-yard, par-72 Seminole Legacy Golf Course and was the only team to finish under par with a 4-under 860 total.

   Wallin closed with a 4-under 68 that gave her a 6-under 210 total and a one-shot victory over Florida Atlantic’s Letizia Bagnoli, a senior from Italy, in the individual chase.

   SEC power South Carolina, ranked No. 3 and the top seed in Tallahassee, came on strong in the final round with a 6-under 282 to secure its spot in the NCAA Championship as the Gamecocks finished in second place with a 13-over 877 total

   Pac-12 representative UCLA, ranked 10^th and seeded second, struggled a little in the final round with a 9-over 297, but finished in third place, 10 shots behind South Carolina with a 23-over 877 total.

   Surprising Mississippi State, ranked 34^th and seeded sixth, punched its ticket to Grayhawk as the Bulldogs, out of the SEC, closed with a 10-over 298 to grab the final berth in nationals with a 27-over 891 total.

   Backing up Wallin for Florida State was Alice Hodge, a sophomore from Larchmont, N.Y. who ripped off a dazzling 7-under 65 in the final round to finish in a tie for third place with a 2-under 214 total.

   Amelia Williamson, a senior from England and No. 51 in the Women’s WAGR, and Cecelie Finne-Ipsen, a senior from Denmark, gave Florida State four players inside the top 10 as they were in a group tied for ninth place at 3-over 219.

   Williamson closed with a 1-over 73 while Finne-Ipsen finished up with a 2-over 74.

   Rounding out the Florida State lineup was Charlotte Heath, a sophomore from England and No. 53 in the Women’s WAGR who matched Finne-Ipsen’s 2-over 74 in the final round to join the group tied for 21^st place with an 8-over 224 total.

   Florida Atlantic’s Bagnoli closed with a solid 4-under 68 to claim runnerup honors with a 5-under 211 total. Bagnoli earned a berth to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk with her solid showing, but it won’t be her first appearance at nationals.

   Bagnoli was in the lineup for Wake Forest as a freshman three years ago at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. when the Demon Deacons fell, 3-2, to ACC rival Duke in the Final Match.

   Joining Florida State’s Hodge in a tie for third place at 2-under 214 was UCLA’s Emma Spitz, a junior from Austria and No. 6 in the Women’s WAGR. Spitz had the lead going into the final round after recording back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 2-over 74.

   South Carolina’s Hannah Darling, a freshman from Scotland and No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR, was another shots behind Hodge and Spitz in fifth place after carding a 2-under 70 in the final round for an even-par 216 total.

   Darling and Florida State’s Heath and Williamson will be at Merion next month, too, representing Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup Match. Darling and Heath are repeat selections for GB&I as they were part of a team that fell, 12.5-7.5, to the U.S. last summer at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales.

   In the Stillwater Regional, Baylor might have been the most impressive regional winner of all.

   The Bears, ranked 17^th and seeded third, led from start to finish, matching par in the final round with a 288 over the 6,303-yard, par-72 Karsten Creek Golf Club for a 1-over 865 total that was 14 shots clear of runnerup Arizona State, a Pac-12 representative that is ranked seventh and was seeded second.

   Baylor’s three top finishers, Gurleen Kaur, a fifth-year player from Houston and No. 58 in the Women’s WAGR, Rosie Belsham, a sophomore from England, and Britta Snyder, a sophomore from Ames, Iowa, made up the trio tied for second place, each landing on 2-under 214

   Kaur matched par in the final round while Belsham and Snyder each finished up with a 1-under 71.

   Arizona State closed with a solid 1-over 289 to earn runnerup honors with a 15-over 879 total. Grayhawk will basically be a  home game for the Sun Devils.

   Baylor also beat its Big 12 rival, top-seeded and sixth-ranked Oklahoma State playing on its home course. The Cowgirls, behind individual champion Madison Hinson-Tolchard, a sophomore from Australia, closed with their best round of the week, a 1-under 287, to finish two shots behind Arizona State in a tie for third place with Auburn, each landing on 17-over 881.

   Hinson-Tochard, a veteran of Oklahoma State’s run to the Final Match a year ago at Grayhawk, came on strong with a 3-under 69 in the final round to finish two shots ahead of the Baylor trio with a 4-under 212 total.

   SEC entry Auburn, ranked 19^th and seeded fourth, made a remarkable final-round turnaround, firing a spectacular 12-under 276 to grab the final ticket to Grayhawk. The Tigers looked like they had little hope after opening with a 313, but they bounced back with a 4-over 292 in the second round to set the stage for their final-round surge.

   Backing up the top three for Baylor was Addie Baggarly, a graduate student from Jonesborough, Tenn. who had a successful career at Florida before transferring to Oklahoma State. Baggarly closed with a 2-over 74 to finish among the group tied for 19^th place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Rounding out the Baylor lineup was Hannah Kang, a junior from Germany who closed with a 5-over 77 to end up in the group tied for 35^th place with a 232 total.

   Furman’s Anna Morgan, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C., nabbed an individual bid to nationals as she finished in a tie for fifth place in the individual standings with Arizona State’s Alexandra Forsterling, a senior from Germany and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on even-par 216, two shots behind the Baylor trio tied for second.

   Morgan shot up the leaderboard on the strength of a final round of 5-under 67. Forsterling closed with a solid 3-under 75 to set the pace for the Sun Devils.